The Bulgarian Farmers’ Union warned the Ministry of Agriculture that it will lose BGN 80 million under the fisheries program. The ministry responded

2023-08-04 14:32:11

Georgi Stoyanov: Someone in the ministry is misleading Minister Vatev

Bulgaria is on its way to yes losses over BGN 80 million under the European program “Maritime and Fisheries 2014-2020”, alerts through the media The Bulgarian Farmers’ Union (BFS). There are 4 months left until the end of the program period, and the actual percentage of disbursed funds is 59, according to the BFS, which made an inquiry at ISUN.

The reason is the delayed examination and disbursement of funds under the program by the governing body – Directorate “Maritime and Fisheries”, during the last 2 years, explained Georgi Stoyanov, chairman of the BFS.

Chairman Georgi Stoyanov points out that at a meeting of the Program Monitoring Committee in March 2023, 76% of funds were reported. Which is true?!, asks Georgi Stoyanov. This calls into question the truth of the information presented to the participants and the risk is currently more than 40% of the funds not being absorbed if there is no concrete plan.

“We are asking if the negotiated rates and payment rates are correct and will 40% of the program be paid out by the end of the year?! Apparently, some experts in the Ministry of Health are trying to mislead Minister Kiril Vatev as well. “No one knows what the plan is for rescuing the funds and who is to blame for this inaction, and they even had an “action plan” to get out of this situation,” pointed out Georgi Stoyanov. According to him, someone is covering up the risk of losing European funds.

According to the minutes of the first meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the 2021-2027 Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture Program, 164 million BGN were reported as agreed and BGN 124 million paid.

All this leads to the suspicion that the submission of false information is for the purpose of reporting inflated rates of agreement and execution under PMDR 2014-2020

Ministry of Health: The risk of losses is within BGN 24 million, that’s why we announced new measures

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Kiril Vatev and the new management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry accelerated the implementation of the Program for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries 2014-2020. The new team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry found that there was a serious delay in the administrative processes of the Governing Body and identified a number of problems related to with its implementation. A risk of loss of financial resources under PMDR 2014-2020 in the amount of 12% of the funds or about BGN 24 million and a lack of the necessary commitment on the part of the Managing Authority to overcome this loss was established. In addition, before the inauguration of the new leadership of the Ministry of Interior, there was a serious delay in the last months in concluding contracts for the provision of non-grant financial assistance with the approved applicants and a lag in the regulatory deadlines for evaluating the received project proposals under various open procedures.

Minister Vatev and relevant Deputy Minister Deyan Stratev urgently shortened the deadlines for concluding contracts with the selected candidates and completing the evaluations of the project proposals. The Managing Authority has provided full support and assistance to the beneficiaries for the successful completion of their projects by the end of the eligible period. Due to established unrealized funds under PMDR 2014-2020, an amendment to the Indicative annual work program of PMDR 2014-2020 for 2023 was prepared as a matter of urgency, in which admissions in 2023 with a total value of more than 19 million are announced leva. The measures are aimed at investments in fishing ports, marine scientific research and re-providing compensation for the sector to overcome the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine for 2023. The measures planned for adoption are aligned with payment terms to the counterparties of the beneficiaries, so that an opportunity to submit payment requests be provided in the first half of 2024.

The new MFA team resumed the good dialogue with the European Commission, as a result of which an urgent amendment of the PMDR 2014-2020 was agreed in order to control the risk of loss of funds and accelerate the start of the stalled start of the Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Program 2021-2027. This will ensure the necessary financial resources in the measures planned for adoption by the end of the year and successfully fulfill the maximum budget from the PMDR 2014-2020.